2024 Year-End Marketing Checklist

This blog is the third in a series to help you with your marketing planning for 2025. The first article, “9 Tips to Improve Your Email Marketing Program”, is available here, while the second, “2025 Marketing Planning: Strategy Comes First,” can be found here. Both are four-minute reads packed with practical advice. As the year wraps up, you’re likely balancing many priorities. That’s why we created this concise end-of-year marketing checklist to help you kick off 2025 with…

2025 Marketing Planning: Strategy comes first.

This blog is the second in a series to help with your marketing planning for 2025. The first piece, “9 Tips to Improve Your Email Marketing Program”, can be found here. (It’s a 4-minute read.) We work with companies and non–profit organizations that span industries and size. What they have in common is the need for brand strategy. Strategy is difficult to see and not easy to talk about. The world is shifting faster than…

9 tips to improve your email marketing program

Email marketing is a fantastic, low cost, high return lever for marketers. Unlike most marketing channels, email can create valuable, personal touches at scale. This blog is the first in a series to help you with your marketing planning for 2025. Why focus on email marketing? It checks all the boxes! – Creates brand awareness – Generates leads & sales – Builds a connection with customers – Increases website traffic – Offers customer targeting opportunities – Provides…

The golden brand. What the Olympics got right.

The 2024 Olympics won gold. Viewership numbers for TV and digital broke records. 30 million people tuned into NBC Universal’s platforms each day, which is a 74% increase over the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Marketers can learn a lot from the Olympics’ success. Lesson #1: Create a community. The Olympics bring people together. People feel a sense of social connectedness through a common goal. Being part of a community can make us feel as though we…

Before you sign that digital marketing contract…

Today, businesses and organizations increasingly turn to digital marketing firms to achieve that elusive first-page ranking and gain a competitive edge. Many of our clients tell us that digital marketing firm contracts are overly complicated and full of gobbledygook! The goal is to build a long-term relationship with a marketing partner. Start off on the right foot by using this primer to help you make sense of a digital marketing firm’s contract. Most digital marketing contracts include…

How to Hire a Digital Marketing Agency

Just last week a client asked if his manufacturing company engaged the right digital marketing agency. It’s a question I’m often asked. Your business has different goals, strengths, customers, and resources than every other company, even ones in your industry. Hiring the same agency your board member or friend did could be a mistake as your business’ needs are likely different. Digital marketing agencies offer a menu of services including digital advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, social…

Your 2024 Super Bowl Ad Cheat Sheet

This Sunday in Las Vegas, the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 58. Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes returns for his fourth Super Bowl in five years. Nap before the game. You won’t want to miss a second. On the field, the battle between the Chiefs and the 49ers is predicted to be a fight until the end. Off the field, there may even more drama as celebrities descend Las Vegas. Will Taylor…

2023 Year-End Marketing Checklist

As the year draws to a close, your plate is likely overflowing. That’s why we crafted this concise end-of-year marketing checklist to make sure you kick off 2024 with confidence. This checklist is about the 3 P’s that are critical to your 2024 marketing strategy: People, Performance, and Partners. #1: PEOPLE. Your customers and employees are at the center of your success. Understanding your customer – their wants, needs, shopping and buying behaviors, and online habits…

Where’s your customer?

Before you sign off on your 2024 marketing plan, pressure test it by checking to make sure it has your customer at the center. Your customer should be at the heart of what you do. Whether it’s signing a new business partnership, choosing keywords for an email newsletter, or building your product roadmap, your first step should be making sure the decision is good for your customer. That means you need to understand your customer. How…

Words matter. What are yours?

Words matter.  People connect with a brand when it demonstrates empathy and offers a solution that meets their lifestyle. Brands use words and visuals to communicate. My crude stick figures preclude me from preaching about visuals! My love for and experience writing does enable me to provide tips for effective written communication :). Before I share fun examples of savvy marketing messages, here are tips to create effective messaging: 1. Write for a specific target audience. 2….

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